The Federal Government has commenced the upgrading of colleges of education across the country with modern digital tools as part of efforts to strengthen teacher training, improve digital literacy, and enhance access to quality education.

The initiative began with the official handover of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment and materials to 15 Federal and State Colleges of Education drawn from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

The intervention, facilitated through support from the Government of Japan and the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (IICBA), is being implemented under the project, “Capacity-building of Teachers to Promote Continuous and Inclusive Access to Safe and Quality Education for Girls in West Africa.”

The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Dr. Angela Ajala, has expressed concern over the looming shortage of teachers in Nigeria’s basic education sector, warning that the country could face a serious teaching workforce crisis within the next six years if urgent measures are not taken to boost enrollment into teacher-training institutions.

Ajala raised the alarm during a courtesy visit by members of the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, where she emphasised the critical role of teachers in national development.

According to her, no nation can rise above the quality of its teachers, stressing that the future of Nigeria depends largely on the strength of its teacher education system. “If you get it wrong with a teacher, just know that Nigeria is finished. Every engineer, doctor, scientist, entrepreneur, politician, and leader passes through the hands of a teacher.

The Federal Government’s recent roadmap to connect all schools in the country to internet services is, no doubt, ambitious. The quest for universal school connectivity, however, remains a high-stakes race between government policy and deep-rooted systemic hurdles. The plan, as unveiled, aims to bridge the country’s cavernous educational divide by connecting all schools, from foundational primary levels to tertiary institutions, to reliable internet services.

Announced earlier in March 2026 by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, the plan leverages a massive infrastructure rollout, including 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic broadband and the installation of 3,700 telecommunications towers targeted at rural and underserved communities.

While the rhetoric of ‘AI-driven education’ and ‘global competitiveness’ sounds promising, the Nigerian public is understandably cautious. History is littered with flag-off ceremonies for projects that eventually stalled in the face of logistical, financial, and political headwinds.

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has urged the universities of technology in Nigeria to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution by advancing artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, biotechnology, and digital innovation to support national economic reforms. Uzodimma made the call on Friday while delivering the 38th Convocation Lecture at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State.

“While delivering the 38th Convocation Lecture at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), titled “Nigerian Universities of Technology Must Lead in the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Jeopardize the Nation’s Future,” I stressed the imperative for Universities to transcend their traditional roles and become active drivers of innovation, industrial growth, and economic transformation,” he wrote on his official X account.

His post highlighted the need for increased Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) investment, industry-aligned curricula, and shifting universities from traditional roles to drivers of industrial growth and technological self-reliance.

The traditional structure of higher education was once built on a clear sequence: study first, work later. Universities functioned as protected intellectual spaces where students pursued academic development before entering relatively stable labour markets. That model is rapidly disappearing.

Across the world, higher education is being reshaped by the rise of the ‘earn-and-learn’ student – a learner for whom paid work is not supplementary but essential for educational survival.

This shift reflects both a crisis of affordability and a growing demand for work-relevant education. Students increasingly combine employment with study not for discretionary spending but to manage tuition costs, debt, housing and living expenses. At the same time, employers demand graduates with applied skills and workplace experience. As a result, the boundary between learning and labour is collapsing.

Tanzania and Malaysia have agreed to strengthen cooperation in higher education through university-to-university partnerships, joint research, academic exchange, scholarships, student mobility and collaboration in science and technology, reports IPP Media’s The Guardian.

Speaking during a session on “Strengthening Higher Education Partnership Between Tanzania and Malaysia” held at the Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel, Tanzania’s Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Professor Daniel Mushi, said the visit by the Malaysian education delegation was timely as Tanzania continues to internationalise and improve its higher education system.

He said Tanzania is looking forward to partnerships that can support joint programmes, knowledge exchange, research cooperation and institutional capacity building. According to him, Malaysia’s experience in transforming its economy through strategic investment in education, technology and skills development offers important lessons for Tanzania as the country works to build a competitive knowledge-based economy.

Across Africa, countries are redesigning school curricula to prepare children for the demands of the 21st century. These reforms aim to nurture creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving rather than rote memorisation in schools. Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia have made changes, and Ghana is part of the movement too.

In 2019, Ghana introduced a new curriculum for basic schools that strongly promotes learner-centred teaching. The idea is simple: instead of teachers dominating classroom instruction through lectures and note-taking, learners are expected to take a more active part through discussions, group work, inquiry and practical learning activities.

In our study, we surveyed 282 basic school teachers in Ghana and examined their beliefs about the new approach. Most of the participants were professionally trained teachers (83%), and nearly 80% had 10 years or less of teaching experience. About 90% had received training on Ghana’s new curriculum.

There was a time in the past when university and polytechnic certificates obtained in Nigeria was equally ranked, if not ranked higher than higher in quality than degrees obtained from foreign countries. That was a golden era when Nigerians who returned home with foreign degrees found it difficult to gain employment with those degrees, especially those returning from India and Pakistan.

The general perception at the time was that it was students who could not compete for limited spaces that travelled abroad, where there was no competition for admission to study. It was just like walking in with your ordinary or advanced level certificates, pay your fees and you are registered to pursue your studies.

The quality of university and university graduates has dropped. Media reports have it that a popular digital bank claims that they have 500 unfilled vacancies because Nigerian graduates are unemployable.

Mr Malick Fall, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, says there is a need for collective commitment to promoting safe, inclusive, and violence-free teaching and learning environments.
Fall made this call following a meeting with the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre delegation, led by the Commandant, Dr Samuel Umanah, in Abuja.

The meeting centred on the situation surrounding school abductions and expressions of solidarity with the affected families, school authorities and communities at distressing times in Oyo and Borno States.
According to him, the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers has resulted in the horrific killing of two educators, saying such is worrisome.

He stressed the need for full and diligent implementation of the Minimum Standards for Safe Schools, the strengthening of emergency response mechanisms, and an efficient, data-driven approach to protect schools and vulnerable children.

The Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) has launched a sweeping overhaul of Nigeria’s textbook approval process, directing publishers and other stakeholders to submit school textbooks for a fresh round of assessment, re-assessment, and ranking under a newly introduced quality assurance framework.

“Assessment and ranking of books and other resources for the 2026 cycle shall be conducted in three phases,” the notice stated, adding that all materials intended for ranking must first pass through an enhanced assessment process based on newly approved quality benchmarks.

Publishers, authors, printers, distributors, and other players in the book industry have been urged to carefully study and comply with the revised Book Quality Guidelines and Submission Procedure available on the NERDC website.

The United Kingdom, UK has unveiled tougher immigration measures that could see universities lose the right to recruit international students if they fail to meet stricter compliance standards.

The new rules, announced by the UK Home Office on Thursday, are part of efforts to curb what the government describes as abuse of the visa system, particularly through study, work and tourist visa routes that have been linked to rising asylum claims.

Under the revised framework, universities risk losing their licence to recruit overseas students if more than five per cent of visa applications submitted by prospective students are refused. The previous threshold was 10 per cent.

Zimbabwe’s ambitious artificial intelligence strategy risks becoming a digital white elephant, undone by a key missing piece: faculty readiness. President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the country’s Al strategy, setting an ambitious target to establish two National AI Centres of Excellence by 2028, UNESCO said in a statement on its website on 25 March 2026.

Designed to be world-class hubs for AI, the centres will offer doctoral and postdoctoral programmes and fund advanced research that connects academic theory with practical, nation-building applications. The initiative aims to expand Zimbabwe’s research capacity dramatically and accelerate its emergence as a major AI player in Africa.

However, experts said that the Al strategy was launched while the country’s data centres are underutilised, and universities produce graduates unqualified to operate them. This could turn the strategy into a mere paper policy.